Dear Bruce
by TDX
Summary: Someone writes Mr. Wayne a letter


Dear Bruce, 

Dear Bruce,

Hello dear friend. I guess you're wondering why I'm writing you this letter. First let me assure you it's not my resignation. I love it here at Wayne Tech. The Wayne's have been very good to my family starting with your father to my father. I don't need to tell you that when Thomas Wayne picked Milton Fox to run the small chain of drug stores in Alabama it caused quite a stir. It was before the first birth pangs of the civil rights movement. I remember the long nightly discussions my parents had about my father taking the position. 

Mother was firmly against it. She was against my father getting his business degree. She was against him sending his resume to Wayne Enterprise. She didn't want to cause any trouble. Halle Fox had once been an out going, spirited woman. That's what my father always told me. All I can recall is the woman who was scared to struggle and try to do a little better. It wasn't until later that I found out what made her that way. Halle Fox, my mother, had seen her father Lucious Maynard, my grandfather, lynched. It happened exactly one year before I was born. My father said he thought her spirit was choked out right along with Grand pa Lucious. I have to say now Bruce that I believe him. When my father accepted the offer from your father my mother left. She couldn't stand to bury a father and a husband.

It was hard. We moved to Holster Alabama. It wasn't quite a big city but it was larger then the place I grew up. The part where we lived at was nice and pleasant. It didn't get ugly until you went downtown. I'm not referring to the buildings I'm talking about the attitudes. Down town was pristine and classy. The drug store was three floors high and pretty modern for its time. The administration offices were on the top floor, physician offices were on the second story, and general store and warehouse were at ground level. It was befitting the headquarters for the eight other stores in the surrounding counties it supported. The kind of place Milton Fox was supposed to scrub floors at not run. 

It couldn't have been easy but my dad treated it like it was the best job in the world. Which for a black man at that time it was. I only remember one time when I saw how much it was effecting him. I should have been sleep when I heard him on the phone with someone one night. My father never raised his voice. He spoke in cool, calm tones. I suspected it was your father. Three days later you father shows up at our door step. I was the one who answered the door. I couldn't have been any older than nine or ten. He had the bluest eyes I'd ever seen. He reminded me of one of those actors I'd seen in the movies. You remember the ones about damsels in distress and all that. He looked down at me patted me on the head. He said he had a little boy at home a few years younger then me. He said I could play with you when my dad came to Gotham. He took another look at me feeling my arms then added if I promised not to hurt you. He said you weren't quite as big as I was yet. I flexed my muscles and promised I wouldn't hurt you. He laughed and thanked me. By then my father had joined us. They retired to my father's study. I don't know what they talked about but when Mr. Wayne left my father's whole continence had changed. He was his old optimistic self again. I was happy beyond all measure. I had started to see my mother's eyes reflected in his. Shortly after that my father and I moved to Gotham. 

The day we moved here your parents were murdered. When my father told me Mr. Wayne had been killed I cried like a baby. I remember seeing you at the funeral. You had the look on you face that matched how I felt. We both lost something. I had only met Mr. Wayne once but it had changed me. I know that sounds sappy and sentimental but it did. What your father did for mine can't be measured. I knew then that I didn't want to work anywhere else or be a part of any other company.

I dedicated myself to becoming the best that I could be in business. I learned every thing I could. I made myself an asset to Wayne Tech because it was already an asset to me. I didn't meet you again until you informed me that I would be the new CEO. I must say that when I saw you I was a bit disappointed. You had the build and looks of your father but you seemed totally devoid of his drive and purpose. I guess I was guilty of buying into the playboy image you flash so readily. The more I saw you in private the more I saw your father's traits coming to the surface. When you placed me as CEO there were only two other minority CEOs of top fifty companies. Not for a minute did I think you were doing it for political correctness. You did it because you thought I was the best man for the job, the same way Thomas thought about my father.

On behalf on the Fox men to the Wayne men thank you.

This stroll down memory lane, while pleasant, isn't the purpose of this letter. As CEO I have access to tons files, financial reports, technical read outs, you name it. Believe it or not Bruce I go through every one of them. Though the company bares your name I consider it mine. That is, I need to know every thing there is to know about it so that I can better keep it safe and healthy. A few years ago I came across some documents concerning a new type of automobile engine. I was intrigued with the thought of Wayne Tech getting in to the car business. Then I never saw anything else about it. When I asked the chief engineer about it he said that you changed your mind about the venture. Then I noticed other prototypes weren't making it into production. Some of them sold off to other companies' right when they would become viable. Normally that wouldn't be a red flag businesses do it all the time. But when I searched to see what happened to the project after that, I found none thing. It was like the company just vanished. I couldn't figure out why a firm would pay Wayne Tech one hundred thirty million for the formula for a new alloy then never do anything with it. Like the micro-pneumatic grapple and line that the Everest Mountain Climbing Equipment Company purchased. I was the manager over that project. We came in six hundred thousand under budget on that one and one week early. I was waiting to see the fruits of our labor being sold on the open market but it never happened Everest went bankrupt. At the time I thought it was just bad luck. Now, years later as CEO I see things differently. I started keeping track of all the missing projects. I began to see a pattern. Individually they didn't add up to much but collectively they made an arsenal. An unusual arsenal that only one person I know could use, Batman. I wasn't sure if you were him or just his benefactor. I didn't realize you were Batman until you called me during "No Man's Land" the plan you suggested to put Gotham back on its feet was brilliant. The plan was simple and yet devious not the kind of thing a billionaire playboy thinks of. I don't know if it was the stress of seeing Gotham the way it was but you let down your guard Bruce. I got a glimpse into the person you really are not the one you show the world. What I saw was cold, calculating, and determined, qualities befitting Gotham's protector.

Do you remember when you gave me the evidence of Lex Luthor's attempt to illegally acquire our fair city? I didn't even flinch when you asked me to meet with him even though I think the man is more then capable of killing especially when pushed into a corner. That's because I knew. I knew you were going to show up as Batman. I must admit I feel a deeper connection to you now. I wonder what its like swinging from rooftop to rooftop in the night. I hope the grapple is holding up for you. I'm sure you put it to better use then any thrill-seeking climber could. Now that I know I worry about you. I just now put the car crash you had a few years ago together with the reports of Bane breaking Batman's back. I worry that because of your nightly occupation you might not be around when I finally get up the nerve to send you this letter. Please take care of yourself Bruce.

Yours truly, Lucious Fox 

PS Don't worry. There are only two people who have access to the information that let me put the pieces together, you and me. Just in case though I've already changed the records. Your secret is safe with me. 


End file.
